7th and JH Boys Basketball show growth

The 7th grade and junior high boys finished up their seasons last week, and Coach Louis Bonner said he was encouraged by the development he saw in his teams.

“On the 7th grade team, a lot of them played summer ball together, so they knew each other pretty well,” Bonner said. “The team chemistry was really good. I thought we had good leadership. We had a couple of new athletes this year, and they came in and did a really good job of contributing.”

For his junior high team, Bonner said he saw a shift after the Christmas break.

“The second half of the season, we turned it around — we were unselfish,” he said. “At the beginning of the season, we were really selfish as a team. During the second half of the season, you could tell that everything started coming together. I wish we were still playing right now because we look so much better than we did back in mid-November.”

For the first time, Bonner said he plans to hold tryouts for the 7th grade and junior high teams in the spring, which will allow him to get his teams set for next year and get a head start on training with summer workouts and practices. His outlook on the coming seasons is positive, but it also transcends what appears on the scoreboard when the clock hits 0.

“I know people want to win, and of course I want to win, but if I can see that an athlete is getting better, then that’s what’s important to me,” Bonner said. “That’s my job — to make sure that the athlete shows growth.